Mother of dead children is taken to mental unit

June 2, 2008


A Sri Lankan mother suspected of stabbing two of her children to death and critically wounding her baby girl was lonely and depressed by her life in Britain, her relatives said yesterday.

Police last night detained Sasikala Navaneethan, 35, under the Mental Health Act over the deaths of her son, 5, and his sister, 4. Their six-month-old sister remains in a critical condition after all three children were stabbed at their home in Carshalton, South London, late on Friday night.

Police have refused to give details of the incident but sources suggested that the throats of the older children had been cut.

Neighbours described seeing a “tiny bundle” being carried out of the house. “It was obviously a child,” one said.

Jon Bailey, 22, said: “I saw the child being carried out in a white sheet. The sheet was soaked in blood. The paramedic dropped her on a bed at the back of the ambulance and was trying to resuscitate her.”

Mrs Navaneethan and her husband, Navarajah, were arrested on the spot.

Mr Navaneethan was released yesterday and is no longer a suspect.

A police spokesman said last night that a 35-year-old woman, who had been in hospital since the incident, would be transferred to a secure mental health unit.

Speaking through an intermediary, a relative of Mrs Navaneethan told The Times that she had become depressed after her brother and his wife moved out of the house a fortnight ago. “Her husband was working all hours and she was very lonely, with no one to talk to,” he said. “She had three children who were very hard work.”

Friends said that the couple, who were Tamils and moved to Britain four years ago, were in debt. Mr Navaneethan, 39, owns a newsagents in nearby Coulsdon. His business had been badly affected by a bypass that severely reduced passing trade.

Paul Sathianesan, a Sri Lankan councillor in East London, said that the Tamil community in Britain lacked psychological support. “There’s no one people can talk to,” he said. “You can get advice about housing and welfare, but not if you’re just depressed.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4045943.ece